We quilters have many things in common. One of my favorites is the compulsion ( for me both compulsion and obsession!!! ) to collect. In this case fabric. AKA ... The Fabric Stash. My stash ( I've been told on more than one occasion by more than one person ) rivals the inventories of quilt shops. After all, my parents taught me: If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well, completely, and to the best of your ability. I try to follow that adage in my life and feel like I have succeeded when it comes to establishing my stash!!!!!

I am very fortunate that my husband does not give me too hard a time about my fabric shopping sprees and the number of bolts I bring into this house. He does, however, love to tell stories:

about the time I was asked to go home so the shop could cut fabric for the other customers during a sale and they would measure all of mine after the rush and call me to come back and pick it up (which worked out quite well and saved me from feeling obligated to let people with fewer cuts go ahead of me in line)

and the time he received a phone call asking him to ask me to come to the store the night before the sale to make my choices so they would have time to cut and measure and I could stop by during the next day to pick my order up

and the time I was in line with a new rotary cutter in my hand. The woman behind me had several yards of fabric......and her husband with her. He was giving her a hard time about how much she was purchasing and said she should be more like me (pointing to my one item). While he was ranting, I paid my bill and two store employees came forward with my two carts full of fabric!!! Her jaw dropped as her husband tried to convince her that I would surly be in trouble when I got home. I turned around and told them of my husband's usual question as I leave the house. "Will it all fit in the back of the Jeep or do you need me to come with the truck and trailer?" The woman immediately turned back to him and asked, "Why can't you be more like her husband?"

Despite all of this, I still, for some reason, feel the need to justify my growing stash. I usually explain that I am preparing for the future!!! When I retire from teaching school and work with quilting on a full time basis... some of these fabrics won't be available...I might not be able to afford the fabric...I might not (for some reason) be able to shop...there might not be any more quilt shops or fabric stores in the world...there might a quilting emergency and I could save the day by having the only fabric around for miles...you get the picture!!!

A customer brought a vintage quilt to be worked on, I had the perfect fabrics needed in my stash to complete the job. Stash justification!!!

here was a request for a baby quilt, in a hurry, I had the time and .....the fabric!!! Stash justification!!!

And my favorite...........

Recently, we painted my grandson's room and at his request made it a cowboy room. I was able to go into my stash of cowboy fabric and let my grandson pick out the fabric for his new quilt and curtains!!! (Of course I went shopping and found the perfect border fabric :) What a neat experience to be able to begin working right away while he was soo excited. What a great reason to have a fabric stash---justification!!!

Now that I have really been able to justify my stash, and I used some (alright a teeny-tiny bit) of my stash up.............I feel a visit to a quilt shop coming on!!! After all, I have to replenish and prepare for future quilting!!!!!